Music in Flight | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Opening the concert is Finlandia, Sibelius’s bold statement on a Finnish national identity that offers a glimpse of the soul of a nation and an urge to escape Russian oppression. His Symphony No 5 further explores the composer’s admiration for the natural beauty of his homeland, creating a tangible sense of awe from the opening statement from the brass to the staggered cadence of the exultant finale.

Also featuring in the programme is Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, an eight-movement setting of British poems that includes works by Alfred Tennyson, William Blake and John Keats, and is framed by haunting solos from the French horn. Pärt’s Fratres is a mesmerising work that alternates between frantic trombone arpeggios, a repeating percussion motif and unearthly moments of stillness in the strings that blur the lines between accompaniment and melody to beautiful effect.